Sony revealing a 6.3-inch PS Vita at TGS seems unlikely

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The Tokyo Game Show opens to the public this coming weekend, and there’s a rumor circulating that Sony may have a surprise announcement to make.

Not content with having just one size PS Vita on the market, we could see the Japanese company unveil a second, larger unit before the week is over. The rumor points to a model carrying the name PCH 2000 that upgrades the OLED screen to a 6.3-inch unit. The current model sports an already large 5-inch display.

Although larger, the screen resolution would remain the same at 960 x 554, but the RAM would increase to 1GB from the current 512MB. The main reason for that is to allow more apps and services to be run in the background alongside games. It’s unclear if the battery would also increase in size, but I think it would have to in order to support that larger display.

As for the design, it is being suggested that the casing would be tweaked to better match the PlayStation 4. If that’s the case it’s also likely the 5-inch model would receive a case tweak, too.

This is just a rumor, though, and one that has probably been blown out of proportion. An update to the existing 5-inch model seems more likely, both to cut production costs and bring the look more in line with the PS4. Also, increasing the size of the display while keeping the resolution the same isn’t going to make the games look any better, and that would also impact the travel on the touch-enabled back panel. Smaller hands may not be able to wrap around enough to reach all parts of it if the size increases, either.

Sony is positioning the PS Vita to be a key component of the PS4 experience, so I expect the handheld to make a strong showing during TGS. A new model seems like a bit of a stretch, though.